Roberto Pini, physicist, is a Research Director of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and from 2013 to 2023 he has served as the Director of the “Nello Carrara” Institute of Applied Physics of the CNR in Florence, Italy. Since 2000 he is also a contract professor at the University of Florence, Dept. of Physics and Dept. of Medicine and Surgery for university and post-doc courses on Basic Optics, Biomedical Optics, Lasers and Applications.
His recent research deals with:
=> Biophotonic technologies for diagnostics and therapy: Laser and LED techniques for applications to Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Wound Healing, Neurosurgery, Microvascular Surgery, Urology, also combined with robotic technologies. Advanced microscopic techniques (Confocal Fluorescence, Raman, Photoacoustic, Multiphoton SHG, AFM). Micro-Raman techniques (SERS, TERS) for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's).
=> Development of functional nanomaterials (Au and Ar nanoparticles, graphene, biopolymers) activatable by laser radiation for applications to nanomedicine (tumor diagnostics and therapy, drug release).
=> Physics and technology of laser systems (Excimer, Nd:YAG, CO2, Diode, etc.) for applications to material processing, conservation of artworks, medicine and surgery.
=> Competences on optoelectronic and photonic instruments for the aerospace.
He has been the coordinator, as well as the principal investigator of many research projects (29 in the last 10 years), mainly involving industrial research on themes of Optics and Photonics.
He is co-author of more than 300 scientific publications, including 5 books. He is also co-author of 22 patents, most of them on lasers and biomedical optics technologies.
His recent research deals with:
=> Biophotonic technologies for diagnostics and therapy: Laser and LED techniques for applications to Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Wound Healing, Neurosurgery, Microvascular Surgery, Urology, also combined with robotic technologies. Advanced microscopic techniques (Confocal Fluorescence, Raman, Photoacoustic, Multiphoton SHG, AFM). Micro-Raman techniques (SERS, TERS) for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's).
=> Development of functional nanomaterials (Au and Ar nanoparticles, graphene, biopolymers) activatable by laser radiation for applications to nanomedicine (tumor diagnostics and therapy, drug release).
=> Physics and technology of laser systems (Excimer, Nd:YAG, CO2, Diode, etc.) for applications to material processing, conservation of artworks, medicine and surgery.
=> Competences on optoelectronic and photonic instruments for the aerospace.
He has been the coordinator, as well as the principal investigator of many research projects (29 in the last 10 years), mainly involving industrial research on themes of Optics and Photonics.
He is co-author of more than 300 scientific publications, including 5 books. He is also co-author of 22 patents, most of them on lasers and biomedical optics technologies.
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In this context, plasmonic particles as gold nanorods are achieving resounding interest, owing to their efficiency of photothermal conversion, intense optical absorbance in the near infrared region, inertness in the body and convenience for conjugation with ligands of molecular targets.
On the other hand, the photoinstability of plasmonic particles remains a remarkable obstacle. In particular, gold nanorods easily reshape into nanospheres and so lose their optical absorbance in the near infrared region, under exposure to few-ns-long laser pulses. This issue is attracting much attention and stimulating ad-hoc solutions, such as the addition of rigid shells and the optimization of multiple parameters.
In this contribution, we focus on the influence of the shape of gold nanorods on their photothermal behavior and photostability. We describe the photothermal process in the gold nanorods by modeling their optical absorption and consequent temperature dynamics as a function of their aspect ratio (length / diameter).
Our results suggest that increasing the aspect ratio does probably not limit the photostability of gold nanorods, while shifting the plasmonic peak towards wavelengths around 1100 nm, which hold more technological interest.
The aim of this study was to investigate the PA signal generated from gold nanorods (GNRs) loaded in custom made phantoms. VevoLAZR (VisualSonics Inc., Toronto) was used with custom made agar phantom, with 5 parallel polyethylene tubes (with 0.58mm internal and 0.99mm external diameter), and a PDMS phantom, with six parallel channels with sizes from 50 μm to 500 μm, loaded with two different types of GNRs: PEGGNRs (53nm length and 11nm axial diameter, plasmon resonance at 840nm, 87nM (15mM Au equivalent)); and gold nanorods (NPZ) coated in a dense layer of hydrophilic polymers by Nanopartz Inc., Loveland, CO (41nm length and 10nm axial diameter, plasmon resonance at 808nm, 83 nM (14mM Au equivalent)).
The absorption spectra acquired with the PA system and the spectrophotometer were compared. The reproducibility and stability of the PA signal were evaluated at different dilutions. The dynamic variation of the PA signal was evaluated as function of the number of the GNRs. The SNR and the contrast were measured across the range of concentrations studied. The custom made agar phantom demonstrated suitable for the characterization of PA contrast agents such as PEG-GNRs and NPZ. The PDMS phantom is promising in the field of photoacoustics, therefore future works will conducted exploiting its precise and controlled geometry.
Vocal folds and dura mater were harvested from 9-months old porks and used in the experimental sessions within 4 hours after sacrifice.
In vocal folds treatment, an IdocyanineGreen-infused chitosan patch was applied onto the anterior commissure, while the dura mater was previously incised and then bonded. A diode laser emitting at 810 nm, equipped with a 600 μm diameter optical fiber was used to weld the patch onto the tissue, by delivering single laser spots to induce local patch/tissue adhesion. The result is an immediate adhesion of the patch to the tissue. Standard histology was performed, in order to study the induced photothermal effect at the bonding sites. This preliminary experimental activity shows the advantages of the proposed technique in respect to standard surgery: simplification of the procedure; decreased foreign-body reaction; reduced inflammatory response; reduced operating times and better handling in depth.
In this contribution we present an investigation of the photostability of gold nanorods embedded in biomimetic scaffolds by means of photoacustic experiments.
Experimental and model analysis on the temperature dynamics during diode laser welding of the cornea
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